Mostly due to congregational contributions, revenue has moved ahead of budget $12,000 over the last two months. Thanks for your faithful and generous congregational giving! Expenses have exceeded the budget by approximately $2,000.
A sampling of the various activities of the conference during the months of June & July:
• $20,000 in Missional Operations Grants was disbursed. Deep Run East,Whitehall, Ripple Allentown and Rock received grants for leadership development. Nueva Vida Norristown New Life and Souderton received grants for outreach ministries. Good Shepherd received a grant for their work with new Spanish-speaking congregations inMaryland.
• Conference staff and board members attended the Mennonite Church USA bi-annual convention.
• Staff have started preparing for the Conference Assembly in November: worship planning sessions, scheduling speakers, writing committee reports, arranging for exhibits, childcare and translation.
Giving Opportunities:
• By the end of this year the Area Conference Leadership Funds will be depleted. Fifty-four persons, so far, have received scholarships in the last ten years. Developing new church leaders and assisting those currently in church leadership is important for the future of the conference.
• In previous years, Franconia Conference has been able to assist congregations to send delegates to the bi-annual MCUSA convention. This year, due to a shortage of funds, we were not able to do this.
These are just two of many opportunities that will be missed in future years, without your assistance.
The opinions expressed in articles posted on Mosaic’s website are those of the author and may not reflect the official policy of Mosaic Conference. Mosaic is a large conference, crossing ethnicities, geographies, generations, theologies, and politics. Each person can only speak for themselves; no one can represent “the conference.” May God give us the grace to hear what the Spirit is speaking to us through people with whom we disagree and the humility and courage to love one another even when those disagreements can’t be bridged.